books. and new rules this morning meant to make mortgages safer, but will they also make it harder to get one? can you feel the excitement? we're just an hour and a half away from the oscar nominations, so who's in, who got snubbed? we're going to bring it to you all live. the action is right here coming up. among our guests this morning, connecticut senator richard blumenthal will be joining us, new york congressman joseph crowley, dr. sanjay gupta is with us, the dog whisperer, cesar milan and comedian jay thomas joins us as well. it's thursday, january 10th. "starting point" begins right now. good morning, welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, the majority of the united states now dealing with a severe and deadly bout of the flu. the cdc reporting that influenza cases are widespread across 41 states. more than 2200 people reported

hospitalized. here are the hardest-hit states. pennsylvania, south carolina. each reporting 22 flu-related deaths. massachusetts declaring a medical emergency. 700 confirmed cases in boston since october. rates ten times higher than what they saw last year. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, joins us this morning. he's at cnn center in atlanta. sanjay, good morning to you. put this in perspective for me. how do we compare it to last year? >> as you pointing out, you take a place like boston, for example, and it's about ten times worse, 700 cases versus 70. but this is clearly a much more severe season as compared to last season which was relatively mild. the question that a lot of people are asking now, is this more and this is early peaking and will taper off earlier as well or will it just stay high now for the rest of the flu season? we don't know the answer to this. also this particular strain. it's h3n2 just appears to be a

more severe strain. we've seen this before. it was severe then, it's severe now. more people having significant sickness as a result. >> every year around this time you hear two things. people saying every time i get a flu shot it makes me sick so i'm not going to get a flu shot. or they say i never get a flu shot and i'm healthy and so i'm not going to bother getting a flu shot. so as a doctor, what do you tell them? >> the flu shot is not perfect. it's about 60% effective. there's another flu virus going around not included in this shot so it's much better than nothing. it takes a couple of weeks for your immunity to build up after you get the flu shot so you're not protected right away. here's an important point and i think you and i have talked about this before. when you get a flu shot, what the body is doing is sort of ramping up the immune system. so it's recognizing that virus so that if it sees the virus again, it can get rid of it more quickly. but that ramping up of the immune system, that's what makes people feel a little crummy. you might sort of have those

flu-like symptoms but it's not the flu after you get that shot. >> this year it seems that there is this aggressive flu and then whooping cough as well and then the norovirus, the three of them coming together. they have predicted 50,000 people could die this season. are these all going to be mostly people who already have compromised immune systems? >> those are the people that are certainly the most vulnerable. when you look at numbers like that, 50,000 people potentially dying, 200,000 potentially hospitalized, obviously healthy people are in that crowd as well. so a lot of times it's healthy people who simply -- they get very dehydrated, their fever stays elevated for several days and they don't get to a doctor or hospital on time. so, you know, there's a lot of people who are getting quite sick from this. >> do you have a list of when people should go to the hospital, that it's not sort of the flu that you can stay in bed and resolve at home but that it is so serious that you need to

be hospitalize ed. let's walk through some of that. >> for the vast majority of healthy people, they'll be able to stay home and the focus is on isolation so they don't get other people sick. but if you're unable to keep fluids down, for example, as a result of this, if your fever stays elevated as a result of this, over 103 degrees, most importantly if you suddenly develop difficulty breathing, that is a big red flag. also one thing that can happen is you can have this viral infection. you get better after the flu goes away but you've developed a bacterial infection afterwards, so you feel better and then a couple of days the symptoms come back. that can be a red flag. >> dr. sanjay gupta. thank you. i should mention sanjay will monitor the flu's spread over the weekend. turning now to washington, d.c., president obama prepared to go, maybe, around congress to enact some tough new gun control laws that sort of comes, according to his vice president

joe biden, talking about that yesterday on the eve of his meeting today between gun violence commission and the national rifle association, it's going to be a busy day for the vice president. later this morning he'll meet with sportsmen and wildlife groups. this afternoon it's representatives from gun owners groups including the nra and tonight he sits down with members from the -- executives from the entertainment industry. the white house saying they're in listening mode today and the vice president acknowledging that the president is prepared to use the powers of the presidency possibly to push through a comprehensive gun control plan. here's what he said. >> the president is going to act. there are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. we haven't decided what that is yet. but we're compiling it all with help of the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe is required. >> he says we haven't decided what it is yet. let's get right to white house correspondent dan lothian who's in washington, d.c., this morning. so talk more specifically. he's not being very specific but

what are people thinking that he's talking about? >> reporter: well, i think we have to really wait and see. the white house is still in the process of compiling what some of those options might be for the president to go it alone. they have these two tracks, as you've pointed out, where legislatively there are things they believe such as reinstating that assault weapons ban but they also want to have options for the president to go it alone. and they're working with the justice department on some of the specifics. obviously what they're trying to do here is they realize the political climate here in washington, it is very difficult to get things done very quickly here. we've seen that over the last few months with the fiscal fight. frankly over the last few years as well here in washington. and the vice president pointing out that things need to happen very quickly so that lives can be saved. take a listen. >> i want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing. it's critically important we

act. >> reporter: now, in addition to the group of people that you mentioned, the vice president will be meeting with today, yesterday he sat down with a dozen faith leaders. they talked about the moral imperative of taking action to prevent the violence that we've seen across the country. in addition he had a conference call with governors, state and other local officials across the country. they're trying to put together proposals and present to the president all of these proposals by the end of the month. >> what's been the reaction, dan, among gun rights groups? >> reporter: well, they're very concerned when they hear about executive action that the administration might be taking. we've heard from the gun owners association, we've heard from the national rifle association as well. they're concerned about the talk of reinstating this assault weapons ban as well, and in fact we heard from the nra saying that this is just a phony piece of legislation. they say that you should be

looking at other things, such as violent video games, looking at mental health issues. that's where the focus should be, not on gun control. >> dan lothian for us this morning in washington, d.c. thank you, dan. appreciate that. turning now to who's in and who's out of the president's cabinet, the white house chief of staff, jack lew, is going to be nominated to become the next treasury secretary. he would replace timothy geithner. the search is on now for a new labor secretary now that hilda s solis has announced she's stepping down. staying on the job for now is attorney general eric holder. he'll be working with the vice president on those new gun control measures that we heard biden talk about just a few minutes ago. he could leave by the end of the year. the white house also announcing health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius, is going to continue to serve in the president's second term. and today, of course, is hollywood's biggest morning. the oscar nominations will be revealed in less than 90 minutes. some films are considered to be shoo-ins for nomination. lots of drama, though, in this

case. a nischelle turnpike e turner is angeles for us today. >> reporter: the good thing about the academy is they like to zig when other folks zag so there could be five to ten nominations for best picture this morning. conventional wisdom is it's been a really good year for film. there's a little something for everyone. >> i like our chances now. >> reporter: the campaign for best picture is about to get real. and there's no doubt "lincoln" will be a leading candidate. steven spielberg's civil war drama should land a slew of nominations and not just for best picture. >> daniel day-lewis, obviously, for best actor. you're going to see him nominated and he's by far the front runner to win. i'm sure you'll see sally field nominated in supporting actress. and also tommy lee jones in supporting actor. >> reporter: as many as ten movies could be nominated for best picture. deadline.com's pete hammond points to a handful of top con terns. >> in addition to "lincoln," it's les m if tis."

"argo" and "zero dark thirty." >> reporter: playbook should get best picture and it's stars. >> robert de niro, who has not been nominated, believe it or not, for 21 years. >> reporter: among the possible oscar nominees, one movie stands out as a major question mark. what will oscar voters make of quentin tarantino's "django unchained." >> django is the wild card here. it could get a ton of nominations or virtually nothing. >> reporter: the d may be silent but critics haven't been. some of them aconfusing tarantino of trivializing slavery. >> it's such a box office hit. that can only help.

>> reporter: the controversy should make for a suspensionful oscar nomination announcement. now, if the academy decides to expand the best picture category, "django" could get a nomination if they go to six, seven or eight movies but it would be a bit of a surprise if jamie foxx does get a nomination for best actor for that film. the best actor category one of the tightest this year. we probably will see people like daniel day-lewis and denzel washington get nominations, but there could be heavy hitters in hollywood like richard gere, bradley cooper or joaquin phoenix that could find themselves on the other side of the nomination. >> all right. lots of drama there. you can stick around for our special coverage of the oscar nominations that begins at 8:nic8:15 this morning. a.j. hammer will join me and we'll talk about it live on the air. go to our facebook page or tweet us your thoughts on the

nominees. it our hash tag #cnnnoms. other stories making news this morning. in colorado, the evidence hearing against james holmes has wrapped up. the presiding judge will decide tomorrow if this case will go to trial. holmes accused of opening fire inside the movie theater last july killing 12 people, wounding dozens of others. yesterday prosecutors claimed that holmes cased the theater up to three weeks before the massacre. they presented photos recovered from his cell phone along with chilling cell photos of him posing with weapons. afghanistan's president hamid karzai is making the rounds in washington. today he stops by the pentagon for a meeting with leon panetta. he'll also see the pentagon's 9/11 memorial. the two men will discuss the american troop situation in afghanistan after the nato combat mission officially ends next year and of course tomorrow hamid karzai meets with president obama. so it's a race against time to free a pack of killer whales trapped by ice. 11 of them trapped in a 50 foot

by 50 foot space near a small canadian village in northern quebec. experts are headed there today to see if it's possible to save them but if the hole they're using to surface and breathe freezes over, the orcas will eventually die. earlier i asked william hurley of the georgia aquarium why these whales ended up there in the first place. >> we're seeing a lot of changes in the arctic. in this case it looks like these animals were probably looking for food and found themselves in a place they wouldn't normally be exploring and mother nature took a turn and brought the ice in quickly. this is one of the number one killers for marine mammals in the arctic areas. we didn't used to have iphones in places where we could spot them like we do today. >> ice-breaking ships are about a day and a half away and open water is about six miles away for those whales. there was a movie that came out last year and there was a case in 1988 in alaska, where they were able to make a path for whales but the ice breakers may

be too far away this time. still ahead this morning on "starting point," as the vice president's task force looks at gun control, senator richard blumenthal will join us. new rules on mortgages. will it make it harder for you to get a loan? [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay -- you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? sven gets great rewards for his small business! how does this thing work? oh, i like it!

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welcome back, everybody.

our team this morning, will cain is back, he's a columnist for theblaze.com. i missed you a little bit. we kind of butt heads occasionally. i missed you. we have a full day to get together on that. jen is with us, democratic strategist and former traveling press secretary for the obama campaign. jeff toob in. nice to have you with us. potential face-off in washington, d.c. vice president joe biden will meet with the nra a day after the vice president said the president might take his own action on the issue. listen. >> the president is going to act. there are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. we haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with help of the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe is required. >> senator richard blumenthal is a democrat from the state of

connecticut. he's a member of the armed services committee and also the judiciary committee. it's nice to have you with us, sir. >> great to be back. >> what do you make of what joe biden was saying. >> i think very realistically he's focusing on what the president can do to improve enforcement through executive action, which, by the way, ought to be very welcome to the gun rights advocates because they have been saying for years and years let's enforce the existing laws better than we have. and i agree that existing laws should be enforced more aggressively and proactively. so this kind of -- >> well, gun rights activists did not welcome it. i mean they didn't hear a sense of -- they didn't read that as let's enforce existing laws. many read it as the president is going to do what he can to go around congress and put into effect what he'd like to. >> and the vice president is reaching out to them, will meet with them today, perhaps better explain exactly what he means. but i think that we need to act on all fronts. there needs to be a

comprehensive strategy. no single solution exists to combat gun violence. the proposal i've made for background checks on ammunition purchases also is a common sense enforcement tool that basically says we need to do the same kind of checks with the federal database that we do for 60% of firearms purchases. >> let's walk through the specifics of what you are pro potions. we have a graphic of that. background checks to buy ammunition is part of the ammunition background check act of 2013. sellers must keep track of ammunition sales and their inventory. seller must alert police when there's 1,000 rounds or more bought within five days and there would be a ban on tefl teflon-coated bullets and incendiary ammunition. why focus on the bullets when many are focused on ar-15s, for

example. >> you know the saying guns don't kill people, ammunition, bullets, kill people. we now have a system where both firearms and ammunition purchases are forbidden for certain categories of people. felons, fugitives, people with serious mental illnesses, people who are under domestic abuse orders. and those people can walk into a walmart right now, buy a shopping cart full of ammunition, pay for it, walk out, no questions asked, whereas firearms purposes are subject to a background check. so the legislation i'm proposing very simply would enforce the existing ban. there already is a ban against those categories of people purchasing ammunition. we need to make the law real, give it teeth and that's why we need those background checks. but also reporting for people who purchase more than 1,000 rounds and the ban on teflon-tipped bullets, which pierce armor worn by our police

and others. >> you say it's simple, but many people are against it. >> well, obviously the precursor to this debate and obviously the precursor of many of these laws is the terrible tragedy that happened in your state. does it give you any pause that connecticut had an assault weapons ban in place when newtown occurred, that essentially we're trying to pass laws to avert needles in hay stacks. these kinds of tragedies, although they're horrible, also don't happen frequently. so what kind of law would have stopped this horrible incident? you had one in place and it didn't. >> a better and stronger law would have had a much better effect -- >> how strong do you have to go to make sure it works. >> it has to be without the kind of exceptions that right now riddle connecticut's law, and also plagued the federal law when it was in existence between 1994 and 2004. the assault weapon ban that i'm going to be introducing with senator feinstein, who has led this effort in the united states

senate for many years and other colleagues will not be in effect undermined by the many exceptions and exemptions that made that assault weapon ban that was used in newtown actually legal in the state of connecticut. i know about this law because i advocated it, i defended it in court when it was challenged, did the trial myself, argued the appeal. it was challenged on vagueness grounds because it had so many exceptions and exemptions. so it's not just a law, not just a ban, but a good law and active, aggressive enforcement. best law on the books is dead letter unless it's enforced. >> snard richard blumenthal joining us this morning. nice to have you with us. still ahead this morning on "starting point." take a look at this governor. "time" magazine shows new jersey governor chris christie. some people are mad because it says "the boss." they say they're offended. we'll tell you which group and why straight ahead. and do you think as many do

that "lincoln" is a shoo-in to be nominated as best picture? tweet your prediktsctions to us. . the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. with two times the points on dining in restaurants,? you may find yourself asking

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welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans. u.s. stock futures higher after positive news out of china overnight. the european central bank has its first meeting of the new year today in frankfurt. here in the u.s. we'll get a fresh reading on the jobs market with the weekly jobless claims at 8:30. new mortgage rules today to ebl end the risky lending that led to the housing collapse and make sure people have mortgages they can pay back. lenders must prove the borrower has money, has a job, has decent credit history and can afford the monthly payments. plus lenders have to improve the borrower can afford all the costs associated with the house like property taxes, any home equity loans and they can't saddle a homeowner with total debt more than 43% of their income. the new rules take effect january 21st but lenders have a full year to implement them. it's so interesting because no more teaser rates. they can still do these -- no more no doc loans.

they can still do interest only loans but they have to prove the person can pay more than just the interest, can actually pay the principal back too. >> it is kind of crazy that a big step in this is proving that you can pay back the massive loan you've just taken out on your home, right? >> i'm betting most people thought these were already the laws, that's the thing that's so amazing, and that it's taken this long to get it in place and through a very hard fight early in the administration. >> some are worried it means you're not going to be able to get a loan. >> well, good. >> it also means lenders can't trick people. part of the problem in the housing crisis, lenders tricked people and said you can afford this. >> part of the problem is financial education and people don't know what they're signing on to. >> now everybody is clear. no money if you can't pay it back. >> in theory. >> oh, cynics, cynics, cynics. ahead on "starting point," we'll tell you what's different about the flu this time around and what's making it so severe. and this, neighbors call

911. they see a ferocious and deadly beast walking the streets. it's actually just a dog. we'll have that story straight ahead. we're back in a moment.

welcome back to "starting point." we begin with john berman who has an update on the day's top stories. so the flu is spreading with a vengeance across the u.s. not only did the season get off to a very early start, cases are

proving to be far more severe than last year. the cdc's latest flu advisory says 41 states are dealing with widespread activity. more than 2200 people are hospitalized. the hardest hit states, pennsylvania and south carolina, each reporting 22 flu-related deaths. illinois now reporting six deaths. in cases in south dakota spiked, almost doubling in the span of a week. it's so bad in boston they have declared a public health emergency. since october there have been 700 confirmed cases in boston. rates ten times higher than what they saw last year. >> we've seen 18 deaths reported to us so far this season associated with influenza-like illness, predominantly, overwhelmingly amongst older individuals which is not atypical. what we are hearing from clinicians all over the state is that the strains of flu that people are presenting with is quite severe and we're seeing rates of hospitalization certainly higher than the last two years. >> so the cdc says the flu

strain going around is tougher to shake this year but the good news is the strain matches up well to the vaccine being given out nationwide. we'll talk much more with elizabeth cohen in our next hour. no charges will be filed against the driver of a parade float that collided with a freight train in texas in november. four people were killed and a dozen injured. the parade honored military veterans. investigators say the float entered the train crossing and the gate then came down. so some italian americans are reportedly upset at "time" magazine's latest cover that shows governor chris christie in a mug shot-like pose and there's this headline that says "the boss." "time" magazine is owned by our parent company. even chris christie took issue with this cover. he suggested it made him look like a mafia boss. he also joke eld that it made him look like tony soprano and may have damage eld his relationship with bruce springsteen because he stole his nickname. >> i assumed it was like he's

supplanting bruce springsteen. >> he's a huge springsteen fan. >> i thought that, i thought he runs the republican party, the state of jersey, i did not think mafia. >> most people -- i don't even know christie is italian. he is half italian, but i mean the idea that it's some sort of mafia thing i don't think makes sense. >> it's hard to tell how upset he really is, so we'll see over time. the question here is who does christie want to be? is he tough, is he independent, is he compassionate? >> when chris christie is really upset, you can generally tell, so i think there are different levels here. we have baseball news here. roger clemens knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a shutout. he along with barry bonds and sammy sosa were shut out of baseball's hall of fame yesterday. clemens and bonds tainted by steroids, they got less than 40%. sammy sosa barely registered 12%. that's a guy with 600 home runs.

no one made it in yesterday. craig biggio came the closest. he had 68% of the vote. he fell just 39 ballots short. you have to look at this, reports of a lion on the loose in norfolk, virginia, turned out to be somewhat exaggerated. listen to the 911 calls. >> norfolk 911, where is your emergency? >> hello. i'd like to report a lion sighting. >> i just saw an animal that looked like a small lion. it had the mane and everything. >> i just saw a baby lion on colley avenue and 60th street. >> and there was a lion that ran across the street, a baby lion. >> oh, okay. >> it was about the size of a labrador retriever. >> it's easy to make fun of these people but here's the thing. that caller was on to something saying it was the size of a lab. the lion was the size of a labrador retriever because the lion was a labradoodle. the owner gets his groomed to look like the mascot for nearby

old dominion university. the thing looks like a lion. i can't blame these people. >> that's a baby lion itch i've ever seen one. >> that's true. >> this story has been extensively covered by cnn. one of the things i've lenders is th-- i've learned is the own tells people it's a labralion. >> it's only a matter of time before we get that anyway. >> all right, everybody, pencils down. nominations for the 85th academy awards will be announced in just about an hour from now. if the movie going public had its say, steven spielberg's story "lincoln" or maybe "les mis" would win best picture. rest assured both films look like they're a lock to be nominated. have not fair senior west coast editor is with us. nice to have you with us, appreciate your time. >> good morning. >> why is it that movies that

are based on historical fact, whether it's recent history or long history seem to do better when it comes to the oscars? >> well, i think we love our history. i mean this year in particular, you have "argo," you have "zero dark thirty" and you have "lincoln." for "lincoln" it was spielberg's passion project so he had been on that for a very long time, which obviously is huge in american history. i think "zero dark thirty," it's very interesting, this movie has got a lot of controversy, but that's kind of living history that we're constantly debating and talking about right now. and on cnn earlier and later, i'm sure. and with "argo," it's one of these movies that it is a part of history we never even knew existed so i think all of them hilt the sweet spot with audiences. >> does being historically faithful matter? we're seeing some controversy in some of these films that they don't necessarily stick to what actually happened in history. do you think that matters when

it comes to winning or being nominated for an oscar? >> i think a good movie is a good movie. the thing to remember here is that it is movies. they are -- it's a fictionalized version. i think that "lincoln" is certainly inspired by all of the events. none of us were there so we don't exactly know what happened. i think that kathryn bigelow in "zero dark thirty" has probably taken the most heat for that because, like i said, it is living history. the torture stuff people have come up against very harshly. so do i think it matters in terms of winning? not necessarily. i think really it's how the move i is put together, and a good movie is a good movie. >> this is will cain. do you think there's anything -- look, i think you've characterized interesting, living history versus far past history. in this case we have far past with "lincoln" middle with "argo" -- >> how about "django" too. >> the further back in history

it is, the more it's removed from the debate of the contemporary issues we're dealing with. is it beneficial to be further back in history to win the oscar? >> i would say yes. i would say it's hard -- i don't think anybody really knows. this year is the kind of year that this has come up for discussion because we have three movies that are all dealing with a different part of history and a different part of america. so i think for the first time we're actually -- this debeate s being brought forward. >> doesn't hollywood try to have it both ways? on the one hand they say this is really history and on the other hand when people criticize them for being inaccurate, they say, come on, it's just a movie. >> christa is like are you new? yes. >> what do you think some of the surprises are going to be? people who aren't going to be nominated, people who will be nominated who people don't expect? >> well, i think there's a couple of things going. i will say this, i will preface this conversation by it has been the most exciting year in a long time. because usually by this time

everyone is kind of like oh, this one is going to win, it's kind of already wrote. and i think that it's kind of all over the place. i would certainly like to see joaquin phoenix get in there. "the master" came out earlier in the year. it's lost a little momentum but his performance is so incredible in that film. i think we might -- some surprises, it will be interesting to see what happens with "skyfall," the bond movie which grossed over $1 billion. also the film "amour" which is a film about dying, an elderly couple. emmanuelle riva might get in for best actress. so i think there's a handful of surprises that could come. >> i've gotten some tweets where someone has said "wreck it ralph" should be in. >> that's my son. >> christa, nice to have you

with us this morning. of course 8:15 special coverage of the oscar nominations. a.j. hammer of "showbiz tonight" will join us and we'll bring those nominations announcement live when it happens. if you want to tweet your prediction, go to our blog at cnn.com/startingpoint and vote for best picture, actor, actress. you can tweet us and use the hash tag #cnnnoms. coming up next, the man who commanded the war in afghanistan says our nation needs stronger gun control laws. stanley mcchrystal says many guns have no place in our society. we also know we can connect with dogs but how can you take some of the lessons that he's learned over 22 years in the business? cesar milan will join us with some tips for understanding your pet. that's ahead.

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retired general stanley mcchrystal says assault rifles are for battlefields. the man who commanded the war in afghanistan tells anderson cooper he spent his entire career carrying assault weapons. while he approves of them for soldiers, he believes there's no

place for them in society. here's what he told anderson. >> i don't want those weapons around our schools. i don't want them on our streets. i think that if we can't -- it's not a complete fix to just address assault weapons. but i think if we don't get very serious now when we see children being buried, then i can't think of a time when we should. >> he also said he believed most people who owned these types of weapons are actually not properly prepared to carry them. that was interesting to hear from him. i mean he's really been very silent since the scandal that ended his career. >> this is probably the biggest name who's come out who's been kind of the unlikely, i think, supporter of gun control legislation, i think. and, you know, i think the biggest thing that biden said yesterday is it's not all or nothing. and so mcchrystal is out there saying this. you had senator cruz expressing some element of openness to background checks. we'll see what happens. it's still going to be tough, but i thought it was one of the most interesting announcements.

>> there's so many issues, background checks, high capacity magazines for which to debate. general mcchrystal was talking about assault weapon bans. define for me assault weapons and define them in a way that shows they're more lethal than any other gun. i need that to be explained over and over again. >> if you would watch cnn, you would think that we're on the verge of an assault weapons ban in this country, and there is, i think, almost no chance that the united states congress passes an assault weapons ban. look at who's in the congress. look at john boehner. look at the republicans. i mean this is not -- >> the president has said or through his vice president that an executive order could -- >> but you can't ban assault weapons by an executive order. >> the executive orders are things that he can do without congress. that includes enforcing the laws that are already on the books. i agree with jen that what was the most important is talking about it's not all or nothing. they will do what they can when they can. >> the meeting today is also with the entertainment industry. we very rarely have kvrgtsz about violence in the media. that's going to be part of the conversation they're going to have to have. >> and some republicans have

expressed a concern about violent video games as well. >> there's got to be a middle ground. the thing that i find very frustrating, and we have talked about this for days now, is this idea that it's assault rifles -- ban versus, oh, my god, they're coming to take our guns and there's not this vast middle somewhere in which something can be done. >> i totally disagree. >> why? >> i don't think there is a middle ground. i think either you ban these weapons or you don't. and either you can go into a walmart and buy a bushmaster or you can't. >> but when you look at what happened in the past assault weapons ban, there have been many loopholes and sort of like a swiss cheese of law. so it was banned but actually it wasn't supereffective if you look at some of the research that we know from that. >> the reason that it has loopholes is because you can't define assault weapons. we use that term as though it's a legitimate thing. all it is a scary term for a weapon that's functionally the equivalent of 70% of other guns in this country. you cannot define assault

weapons. that's why that ban had very little effect over a ten-year period. >> you can define it by the list of guns. that's controversial. >> but they aren't functionally different. >> the other thing that's interesting is state legislation that's going on. obviously new york and connecticut are liberal states. but new york, governor cuomo said they want to move forward by the end of february and governor malloy's state of the state he talked about moving forward on state legislation. we'll see if there are other states. >> and that's a different issue. magazines, clips. >> we're going to talk more about the oscars this morning. a.j. hammer will join us. a panel of experts, oscar experts will join us at 8:15 a.m. eastern time. what are you laughing about, oscar experts. come on, man, they have seen all the movies. check us out on facebook. tweet us your predictions #cnnnoms. coming up next, when you want to get a dog what you want that dog to do, what do you do? you go to the dog whisperer. he joins us on how you can pick

the right dog and really understand your pet. cesar milan joins us. hey, great to see you again. >> how are you? nice to meet you, everybody. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. this is a spiker box. one of these along with a cockroach could make you an expert on the brain. >> we were trying to make the tools simple enough to be used. i think people are familiar with cell phones or laptops and then our equipment has one knob, you just turn it on. >> they have been enlightened by the neuroscience and how our brain functions. i've got a better understanding of muscle and brain. >> we're almost up to 100 high schools. i'm greedy. we want that across all of the country. we don't want just one kid, we want every kid. >> neuroscientist greg gauge this sunday on "the next list."

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he's known, of course, as the dog whisperer. and along with his new show,

leader of the pack, he has a new book. a short guide to a happy dog where he writes about overcoming some personal struggles as well. he write this, dogs live in the moment. they aren't consumed by mistakes from the past or fear of the future. as i began to stop looking backward and stop dreading the future, i started to regain my appreciation what is happening here and now. thanks for joining us. we have tech questions all morning. >> happy new year. >> thank you. >> those dogs -- are there good dogs and bad dogs or is it more like good owners and bad owners. >> i think it's misinformed human. i don't think a human wants to make a harmed dog. a lot of times people harm a dog by doing affection, affection, affect. dogs in a wealthy environment. the food is brought to them. so they actually harm the stability of the dog. dogs love to work for what he has. that's why i suggest exercised

discipline, that affects your body, mind and heart. >> this is all your philosophy. it's building on your -- it's less about a formula, but more than philosophy -- >> the excuse, i believe. >> 43 years of knowledge that i -- people want to know. what do i do with a barking dog. here it is. page whatever it is. people want solutions. people want it quick. >> i hope thunder is not listening here. the issue of stupid dogs. what about dogs who eat clothing? hypothetically. >> hypothetically. who like eat, say, my daughter's under wear. perverted -- >> they don't have a proper outlet. they do behaviors that appear stupid to people. >> is it because he's a apartment dog? >> it's because he doesn't have the proper challenge, like sheep herding dogs live in the city,

they have a tendency to go after bikes and kids and things. they don't have the proper outlet. >> what's the proper outlet for dogs that eat stupid things. >> i need to follow this. do you see a connection, i asked you this during the break, between the way people raise and treat their dogs ab the way people raise and treat their children? can one be an indicator of the other? >> is this a personal question for you? >> yes. >> yes, it is. in my experience, when i see the behavior of the dog, i see behavior of the family. human tells the story, they don't tell you reality. when i come and evaluate the situation, the human tells me something, the dog tells me, no, no, no. we're not consistent here. look at the kids. >> you tell your mom -- that's how i was raised. >> they la teen no. >> boy dogs fall in line. >> you write a lot in this book,

even though it's a short guide to a healthy dog. about your personal struggles. you were desperate. were you desperate after your pitbull died. >> yes. >> and you tried to kill yourself. >> yes, i tried to commit suicide. i got too a point where i felt i have no pack. i felt that i have no worth in life. and obviously, i became very consumed and very selfish. then i forgot i teach people and help people do exercise, have a challenge in life. have a meaning, a mission in life. help other, in this case, help your dog. that's the way i become rehabilitated. i applied my own formula in me when i was on my worst-case scenario, to me, exercise helped me come back to life. >> new show? >> new show "leader of the pack". >> after that, i was in that zone, i said what do i have to

do. dog whisperer helped me save relationships, "leader of the pack" help me save lives. 600 million in a year. >> thanks for being with us. it was great to have you. >> thank you very much. >> got to talk a break short ahead. vice president biden hours away from talking to the nra. we'll talk how the president will try to push through new gun control laws. that's ahead. also we're 15 minutes away from the special coverage of the oscar nominations. we'll have that live in a moment. 9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax.

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our starting point this morning, a wide spread outbreak, dozens of people killed, hundreds hospitalized with the flu. what you need to know about the severe strain that is now circumstance u la circulating. dr. sanjay gupta has important information. and vice president sitting down with the nra. says the president could issue an executive order to better enforce existing gun laws. and we're away from oscar coverage. a.j. hammer from "showbiz tonight" will join me. who is in and who is not. "starting point" begins right now. thanks for joining me. welcome, everybody, our team this morning. will king, columnist from

blaze.com is joining us, jen is back. jeff toober, senior analyst. we're talking about the deadly flu. cdc reporting that influenza is wide spread across 41 states. hardest hit states, pennsylvania and south carolina, each state is reporting 22 flu related deaths. massachusetts is declaring a medical emergency. 700 confirmed cases in boston since october. rates ten times higher than what they saw last year. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta at cnn's center in atlanta. if you look specifically at a state like massachusetts which is ten times higher, how is it across the country. >> numbers across the country as well. last year's flu season is pretty mild. in comparison, it's portion we expected. it's probably the worst than we've seen in a decade. the question people want to

figure out, soledad, is the numbers have gone up much earlier than expected. are they going peak earlier as well or are they going to stay high throughout the flu season? we don't know the answer to that. i will tell you, the strain of flu, you don't have to remember this. it's h3n2. we've seen it before. >> there's some that say the flu shot doesn't work. or they get sick anyway if they got a flu shot or the flu shot itself gives them the flu. >> all of those are myths. let me remind you af couple things. first of all the flu shot is not perfect. this year it's about 60% effective. there's another flu virus floating around. also, you don't give protection right away after you get the flu shot. it takes a couple of weeks for your antibodies and immune system to build up. finally, soledad, i think this is really interesting. the whole point of getting a flu

shot is to teach your immune system that that virus is something they should get rid of. when the immune system ramps up. you feel cruddy. it's not the flu it's what your body should be doing. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thank you. don't miss sanjay gupta m.d. saturday 4:00 eastern and sunday 7:30 a.m. turning to politics, the president exploring the use of executive order to bypass congress. the gun law too fast track. better execution of the gun laws already on the book. this accord together vice president joe biden. full schedule today for the vice president. this morning he's going to meet with sportsman, wildlife groups, representatives of gun owners groups and tonight he sits down with entertainment industry executives. the vice president says the president already has a plan in

place. >> the president is going to act, there are executive order, executive action that can be taken. we can't decide what that is yet. but we're compiling it all with the help of attorney general, and all of the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe was require. the vice president's commission will make its recommendations for new gun control laws by the end of the month. i want to get right to representative joseph crawly, a democrat of new york. vice chair of the democratic caucus. jay thomas joins us as well, actor and comedian. i want to focus on the entertainment industry. i thought it was interesting that we know the vice president will be meeting with executives of the entertainment industry. hollywood stars weighed in demanding a plan. here's a clip of what they call demand a plan. >> media conglomerates compete

with each other. >> demand a plan. >> right now, as a mom, as a dad, as a friend, as a husband band, as a wife, as an american. >> as an american. >> as an american. >> as a human being. >> for the children of sandy hook. >> as an american. then they recut it. and the recut is very interesting. let's play that. >> it's not too soon. >> it's not too soon. >> it's too late. >> now is the time. >> what do i do, i just -- >> before we all know someone who loves someone on that list. >> so, what they're doing, is they're showing all of these hollywood actors who feel very strongly obviously about a plan and let make some change and intercutting what they do for their day job.

they are clearly shooting guns and weapons and some hypocrisy, when you -- they have a point, i think, jake. >> listen. someone said to me last night, would you do a movie with guns in it. and i said in my position in life, you know, yes. i would take the money and run. i don't understand why some of the wealthiest actors in hollywood still have to shoot guns in every movie they do. they're just absolutely afraid to try and do a movie and sell a story. they just -- they don't make any money selling my 18 and 22-year-old sons a story line. so they start shooting. they want them to feel as though they're watching a video game. and it's safe. it's safe. >> is there any evidence that watching a video game or watching a movie with guns makes you shoot a gun and kill people? >> no. no. >> i know we all want to attack hollywood and hollywood has much to attack. this came up with natural bourne killers years ago and subsequent movies. but the idea that movies --

violence and movies cause shootings. where is the evidence of that? >> let me ask the congressman something. because there's going to be these conversations with entertainment executives. part of this will be the conversation. what do you think is the practical reality to come oust this. >> i already get the sense that the shift is happening. you know, we're moving the focus and direction against -- basically the nra. and focusing on what it can do to get these weapons off our streets. what we can do to get these magazines out of the hands of criminals and people who want to do bad things with them. and the focus now is about society as a whole and you know, what we're exposed to that causes us to do the things that we do. i'm not saying that we shouldn't have a whole discussion, i think it's time we have a very broad discussion about what drives people, mental illness. what drives people towards taking the actions that they're take. you know, we try to often to

simplify. here's the answer. if congress acted the problem will wo be over. no, it would not be over. i'm for strong gun control. i think if we pass that. we have incidents that take place. there's too many guns in the world today. this country, 300 million plus guns in this country alone. >> should entertainment executives think about making changes to what is clearly a culture of violence in this country? listen. every 14-year-old boy that i know and i know a bunch. these are the movies that they like, the shoot'em up -- >> that's right. but is it not appropriate to say, so what. most 14-year-old boys don't kill anybody, notwithstanding the fact that they watch those movies. >> most people who own weapons legally do not kill anybody. right? >> the question is, was it a factor. we wouldn't have said the events would have happened with those type of individuals. is it a factor? does it deserve further study?

most people think yes. most people who struggle with mental illness do not kill people. >> we take these things into context. most people with mental illness do not kill people. most people who watch video games do not do anything. mass shootings. what law for what purpose will be passed? >> that remains to be seen. where the leadership is coming from. right now it's coming from a state like new york. we had governff cuomo lay out a plan. dealing with issues. since the '94 bill was suspended and not re-enacted, even the gun loss on the state books in new york, are really not applicable, because they're no longer stamping the magazines. if you possess a magazine that was produced after 1994, technically it's illegal in new

york state. >> it's going be interesting where this legislation goes on the state fronts and federally. nice to have you with us. we'll talk about oscars ahead. john berman has a look at top stories. john. thanks, soledad. president obama turning to white house chief of staff to be the next treasury secretary. the nomination is expected this afternoon. he's had two stints os direct are of management and budgets. in colorado a judge will decide if james holmes goes on trial. holmes is accused of opening fire inside the movie theater in aurora last july killing 12 and wounding dozens. prosecution shown that holmes has taken pictures of the theater prior to the shooting, and portraits he had taken of himself posing with guns. a storm has hit large area of the middle east. that stretches from jordan through lebanon and into turkey.

but the worst of the storm is being felt in syria where civil war forced thousands to live in dire conditions in refugee camps and makeshift shelters without heat. a lost suffering for people already suffering. all right. john. thank you. when we come back, a.j. hammer head of "showbiz tonight." we'll have announcement and reaction and insiders and the host himself. seth mcfarland will join us after the announcements are made. 

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whoo! special coverage of the academy award nominations on "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> morning, everybody. we're taking a live look from the samuel goldwyn theater. in beverly hills. welcome to our coverage. a.j. hammer is geg to help us out, he's the host of "showbiz tonight." on headline news. interesting, hard to say who will be nominated. >> the exciting thing for me, terrific movies, these are movies people have actually seen, by and large, we'll hear called off in about 25 minutes. >> do you have a favorite movie?

>> i loved "lincoln." i finally went to see it. >> everybody loves "lincoln." >> who hasn't seen argo? you heard people say, maybe it was long i'm not into history. "argo," i haven't heard one person say i don't like it. >> seth mcfarland will be joining us. he of course is not only going to be part of the announcement but he will be the host of the show. it will be exciting to talk about whether he's nervous about it. >> that hasn't been done for a long time. i think he's an inspired choice. >> he's certainly an interesting choice. there's a lost pressure there. some people do a great job and some people do not. it will be interesting to talk to him about how he preps for that. joining us this morning, bradley jacobs is the senior editor for "us weekly," tatiana, and

comedian jay thomas. "lincoln" everyone is saying is a shoo in. >> anne hathaway will win every award. >> more "les miz." she will have three, four different speeches all hitting sightly different notes. everyone i know has been bowled over by that performance. and "les miz," along with lincoln will be the one to get the most nominations this morning. >> for her performance, yes. the actual movie, not so much for everybody. >> i don't think it's going to get as many nominations as lincoln. right now the common wisdom, "lincoln" will garner the most nominations. and in the acting category that's where we'll see the tough bat. daniel day louis and hugh jackman. >> i see daniel day louis, the

closest to a slam dunk. his performance han been universally hailed as really hitting what lincoln would have been like. >> he was an emersed character for sure. >> he will be the first to win three best actor statues. nobody has done that. >> let's go to michelle turner in the middle of all of the action. oscar host seth mcfarland and emma stone the actress making announcements we've been talking about. this is unusual. this hasn't happened in 41 years, right? >> yeah. this is going to be a lot of fun here. we're coming in. everybody is getting set. the announcements will be at 5:38 this morning. one of the thins we usually see for announcements. we usually see a five-minute announcement. they get up there, read off the

categories who will be nominated. this year, we're hearing there could be a little wrangle. you may be in for a little surprise. you have seth mcfarland as your host and announcing the nominations this morning, you never know what will happen. you heard them already playing arm chair quarterback who will get this. who you think is going to get snubbed. one of my favorite categories, because they are such strong performances is best actor category. yes, for certain daniel day lewis will get nominated. denzel washington could get nominated but could see someone big get snubbed. conventional wisdom hugh jackson could get shut out or bradley cooper, joaquim phoenix. you also have richard gere who has come on really late for "ash

traj" not a movie everybody saw. i'm excited to see what happens in this category, because i think this one and category of best supporting actor are really strong this year. >> richard gere. thanks, nischelle for your predicts. >> "arbitrage." >> he's the dark horse and what everybody is saying will be the surprise if there's a surprise in that category. >> you know, when you see people you've seen in the papers. i'll say this about anne hathaway. she played the princess and you read about her boyfriend, when you see an actor or actress do something you didn't know they could do. i think bradley cooper this year, you go, wow, they're really good actors. and i think it helps them get a nomination. what we forget, almost everyone who does this for a living, we all started tap dancing, singing and acting and crying and being hard to take care of as little children and sometimes you don't

get to see them do the things they really know how to do. bradley cooper did, you know, "hangover" he would do funny movies. now he's allowed to do a drama or quirky film. >> we're all stunned and he's been -- >> but you shouldn't be stunned. that's what actors do for a living. >> a lot of actors wait ten years for a part like this. they sit around, they struggle, they commit to roles, no one sees them. >> in the case of bradley cooper, it had not been their first choice, it had been mark wahlberg to play the part and he filled in pretty much at the last minute. >> i think also we see it more on broadway. thus we live in new york, are in new york a lot. these actors, i don't think get a chance. i thought that russell crowe, i liked seeing him, but i thought there would have been someone from broadway, an older, middle-aged actor from broadway that could have knocked that -- >> singing was a challenge in "les miz."

>> that's true. but i liked seeing russell crowe in the movie. and he spit. you see him spit sometimes. >> we don't want anyone to go anywhere. of course the nominations are coming up in about 15 minutes. we'll carry the nomination live when it happens. >> first we want to take a look how history and politics have played a role in many oscar contenders from "lincoln" to "argo." >> we want to know your predictions, use the hashtag cnnnoms. or take the poll on our website. >> we are going leave you with oscar trivia. who was the youngest actress to win a standard oscar? we'll have that answer coming up next. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection

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welcome back, everybody, you're watching a special edition of "starting point" here's live pictures of beverly wills where they are getting ready for the oscar nominees to be announced. that's going to happen in minutes. >> before the break we asked who is the youngest actress to win a standard oscar? >> i don't know the answer. >> it was tatum o'neal for "paper moon." >> shirley temple won an honorary award when she was 5. it could change this year. she was 5. 6 when she shot this movie and 9 year old at the os cars. >> she lied about her age when

she was auditioning. >> you know you got to do what you got to do in this business. . let's talk about some of your picks. talk to me about best supporting actor and actress. >> yeah. let's do that. the starting point crew came up with the oscar nominations predictions for this morning. so we want to run down kind of what we were thinking could happen in 15 minutes. we were talking about supporting actor. i think this is one from the strongest category this year. let's go over who we think could get a good wake-up call this morning. first of all tommy lee jones in lincoln. he was vic in that movie. philipp seymour hoffman. alan ar kin in "argo." robert de niro has not had a nomination in 21 years if you can believe that and leonardo dicaprio was terrifically terribly in "django unchained." >> you could see anne hathaway.

sally field. helen hunt, and amy adams, and nicole kidman could see a nomination as well. also, best director, this is a good category as well. lots of really heavy-hitting directors that are up. we could see steven spielberg get a nomination for lincoln. katheryn big low will get one as well. ben affleck for "argo." he'll likely get a nomination. ang lee, and maybe michael hanake. maybe david o. russell. quintin tarentino. this could be a category that could make an extremely good film get shut out. >> at least three films expected to top the oscars list for best picture. they're historical and

political. >>. >> since 1927, nearly half the movies are about something historical. why does history and politics make for so much of oscar's attention. take a look. sometimes it's as simple as presidents, patriots and politics and phipps like "lincoln" "zero dark 30" and "argo." we're reminded of the country's darkest moments. at the time the economy is roughed up and two wars are winding down. movies can provide escape. then there's controversy that usually surrounds a political film and steven spielberg's "lincoln." based on team of rivals biography and some historians took issue with the limited scope. >> as cinema, it's very good. as history i'm a historian it leaves something to be desired. >> we were enormously accurate. steven and i both cared a lot.

we worked with lincoln historians. what happened absolutely hand. >> it's not a quest being wrong. it's inadequate. it gives an impression that the ratification of the 13th amendment is the end of slavery. slavery was already dying at that moment. ". >> zero dark 30" was met by protest when it opened up. some upset for the enhanced water broording scenes and complains about the extraordinary access the obama administration gave the filmmakers. >> my understanding is hollywood people got access to cia operatives, that they had access to navy saels which they should not have had. >> i want to make a movie about real people who sacrifice for their country when they do these missions were ground pd and

realistic. will i ever come back, whiffle i die overseas? >> but it's not just the action and controversy. directors also like the personalliers in historical films. taking a character who is often larger than life and making them human. >> daniel day lewis, presents a very plausible lincoln. i recommend people see it and then read a book about lincoln. >> now it is surprising about these types of movies, is that in the history of the academy awards, only one politically themed movie ever won best picture. that was "all the king's men" at the 22nd academy awards. we'll find out if lincoln gets a chance with the second nomination. >> all right. thanks. krista smith joins us live from los angeles this morning. krista, do you think it makes it more likely to win an oscar nod

if it's a recent miss h is this or past history? >> i think we're comfortable with things in the fast. who we're seeing with "zero dark 30" which was a brilliant form. i felt incredible and captured it the second it started. it's hard to participate in something that's a living history. what's coming up with torture and whether they had access or not access, secrets or not secrets. none of that is happening for "argo." a movie that basically took an event that happened, basically 30 years ago. so i do think that it's easier, and also with lincoln, it's an amazing book, obviously, well studied. and it was a passion project by spielberg but also not entirely by the book either. none of us were there. we don't know exactly ha happened. >> seems like we're more comfortable tatiana, when it's far past history. >> well, in some cases, the

social network almost won the best oscar two years ago. and that was very recent history. mark zuckerberg's story had been two years old he they started making that movie. even though that movie was not politically themed it was very much still in our consciousness when production began on that film. some people are like, is it too soon? and i think ultimately it was a great movie. and if "zero dark 30," same thing. it's very soon after the facts and people are still very much still digesting this information. and, yet, you make a great movie that's riveting and has this sort of last 15 minutes when you're on the edge of your seat, even though you know how it's going end. i think that really appeals to people. . that was the true achievement of that movie was to take something we all knew about and dramatize it in a way that we were all still held in its palm. that whole last half hour, really of "zero dark 30" was

just incredible. that's why i think some of the cia statements about the movie kind of could hurt it a little bit in its oscar chances because the head of the cia is saying it's not totally a documentary, it's totally entertaining. >> but it is a movie. "all the president's men" whens what meeting deep throat in the parking lot, i saw it recently. you're nervous. you know he didn't die. he's still writing books. i think "zero dark 30" is considered a movie by people who go to the movies. i think, and i apologize, i think a lost times news makers make a big deal out of it. i think they're having an investigation about a waterboarding incident in a movie is really ridiculous. if i was writing a movie about the war, i would put waterboarding in the movie. it's just something that people -- this is horrible to say, they kind of want to see it

dramatically, they want to see some action. >> sure. they're also in this movie, a lost questions about the access they were giving to what were potentially classified pieces of cia information. >> you can go back to john wayne's war movies, they would say the united states army gave them airplanes, tanks, everything. >> she was an imbedded filmmaker. >> you're talking about a debate in congress. it's not a debate happening right on the screen when you're watching it. >> the united states army that that movie was made. >> there are military people who will tell you yes. i have interviewed military people who have said yes. >> why does it hurt them in >> i can't speak to them. they believe that kind of access is damaging to the united states. that is not our topic. our topic is the oscars and scott fine burgh is an analyst this morning. we'll let to him. let's start with the golden globes. >> scott is going to bring us -- this is a precursor to what

happens in the announcements. scott, who do we see in the nominees in the favorites for sunday. because i'm sure the lists will match up pretty closely. >> and it's interesting, because they, you know, logically shouldn't. a lot of people realize the golden globes are determined by roughly 90 foreign journalists who, a very small group of people who don't work in the industry, and then the academy is actually composed of 6,000 people who do make movies or have made movies. their tastes don't necessarily align. there's obviously great publicity value to being a nominee or winner, or other shows that precede the oscars, but they have nominated a lot of the same movies. the big difference is they have camdy and musical category and drama category. they actually in some ways not especially helpful, because they have twice the nominees. you will see "argo" and "lincoln" for instance along with "zero dark 30."

in the best pictures category and "les miz," two of the other top contenders, competing in a totally different category. what often ends up happening, you always get two winners and quite frequently, neither of them ends up being the one that wins the oscar. the hfpa which picks the globes, they opted for auv to"avatar" i of "the hurt locker." i think people assume they are a big hare binger of things to come. we don't know that's the case. >> some think this will be a short list. >> i think it may. scott, thank you very much. along with the golden globes sunday, we have the critics choice awards, next month add mi awards on the 24th. >> award season coming up. >> you've attended the academy awards. >> yes, for "mr. holland's

opus." they lock you in. you get there at 3:00, they don't let you eat. then they have the seat fillers, years and years ago. i went to an awards ceremony and a seat filler went home with my date. why is john hawkes being mentioned? >> he is. >> i go back to people you see a lot. i think johnny goodman might be a dark horse nominee this year. >> for "flight." >> probably for "flight." >> it's kind of like an overlapping thing. i would like to see john goodman nominated. >> unless he splits his vote. it feels like it's been a great season for great movies. >> and people have seen them. >> in the past you have movies that no one has seen. >> "beast of southern wild."

i am from louisiana. i fish and hunt where they shot that movie. that's amazing how they made it for a million and a half dollars. the guy wasn't a big director. i can't pronounce the little girl's name, i'm sorry. >> we make you, seth mcfarland give the official pronunciation. >> we're only about 30 seconds away from the start of the announcements. >> if she gets nominated -- >> we'll see. >> that's the official word. >> the official pronunciation. let's take you live to that shot right there. we're going to sit here and watch as they're getting ready to watch. it's interesting to see seth mcfarland before he actually hosts the show itself be part of the announcement. here it is. [ applause ] hi, there.

good morning. i'm seth mcfarland, the host of the oscars. if you don't know who i am. pretend i'm donny osmond. we'll get through this. it's a great honer to announce the nominees. i am not sure why we don't wait until noon. because the only people up right now are either flying or having surgery. i want to congratulate today's nominees and congratulate those who weren't nominated. you can stop doing interviews where you pretend you had such a great time to make the movie. and here to help me out. since there's nothing creepier than a guy standing by himself in hollywood at 5:00 in the monk is the lovely and talented miss emma stone [ applause ] >> thank you, seth. >> emma stone is the star of the new system "gangster squad." i'm not you're the star. that seems like an ensemble piece to me. >> keep reading.

>> the star of the new film "gangst "gangster squad" and one of the brit brightest talents of her generation. some say she's better than meryl streep. who says that? >> i don't know, nobody, a lot of people. >> let's read the nominees. >> the nominees will be read in no particular order. for best performance of an actor of supporting role is christoph waltz. he's won before. philipp seymour hoffman. he's won before. robert de niro. he's won before. alan arkin. he has won before. and tommy lee jones in "lincoln." he's won before. >> breath of fresh air in that category. for best original song, the nominees are "before my time"

from "chasing ice." life of pi's. suddenly from les miserables. everybody needs a best friend from "ted." music by walter murphy. lyric by seth mac farlane. and "skyfall." >> that's kind of cool, i got nominated. how do you like that? i get to go to the oscars. >> yeah. >> the mtv awards once gave michael jackson a lifetime achievement award just so he would show up. i'm not saying that's what is happening today, but -- i kind of am. >> all right. the 2012 nominees for best performance by an actress in a supporting role are. sally field - "lincoln" anne hathaway - "les miserables"

jackie weaver in silver lining playbook. helen hunt - "the sessions" and amy adams. >> congratulations you no lover have to pretend to be attracted to harvey weinstein. for best animated feature film. "frankenweenie" "wreck-it ralph" "and brave". for best foreign language film, nominees are -- >> from austria, "amour" >> from chile "no." from canada.

and from norway. "kon-tiki" >> i read "amore" was coproduced with austria and germany. last time they coproduced something it was hitler. but this is so much better. for adapted screen play we have lucy alibar. beasts of the sudden wild. tony curber in for "lincoln." david russell for "silver linings playbook." >> these are adapted screen place. keep in mind. that means they copied stuff from microsoft word and paced it into final draft. for best original screen play the nominees are.

"flight." quentin tarantino - "django unchained" wes anderson and roman coppola - "moonrise kingdom" for best achievement in directing. the nominees are -- steven spielberg for "lincoln." mike hanake. and "beasts of southern wild." nominees for best performance by an actor in a leading role are daniel day lewis in "lincoln." denzel washington in "flight." hugh jackman in "less

miserables." bradley cooper. and joaquim oeni in "the master." this is a factor. denzel's character was drank as half of the people up this hour. >> guilty. >> for best performance by an actress in a leading role. the nominees are. naomi watts in the impossible. jessica chastain in "zero dark 30." jennifer laurence in "silver linings playbook." and quvenzhane wallis. >> at 85. ava have the youngest and quvenzhane is the youngest. she's 9. and finally the best picture, "beasts of the southern wild."

"silver linings playbook." >> "zero dark 30." "lincoln," steven spielberg and katherine kennedy. producers. "les miserables." >> "life of pi." >> amore. nominees to be determined. >> "django unchained." >> and "argo." >> "argo" has been nominated. somebody tell cranston he can unclench his teeth now. brian, i love you. please join us at the oscars sunday february 24 to find out who will take home the oscars. >> congratulations to all of the nominees. [ applause ] and there you have it.

hospitals of surprises, i think. some big snubs, and also a really good nomination, sort of moment between emma stone and seth macfarlane. >> i thought that was terrific. >> it really establishes the tone of the oscars. i think people are going to be excited about it. it's usually so straight and straightforward much this will be a lot of fun. >> you can tell already. >> obviously, look at best director. >> no ben affleck and no katheryn big low. i totally changed my reductired. this is a three picture race. with no director nominated, your chance really is incredibly minimal of winning the best picture. >> and no tom hoover for "les

miz." i looked at that movie and thought this had to be tough to shoot the close-up decisions, they sang on the set rather than dub it later. and single shots too. >> there's a lot of decisions made. i'm not a director. you know, how tough it is to put it together. >> a lots of nods for "best of the southern wild." >> yes, yes. i also want to say alan arkin is doing the film and renting one of my homes. i'm going to give him a 10% discount. >> another interesting nomination was joaquim for best actor. he basically dissed academy and said it was the most uncomfortable time of his life. he never wants to go back there. the oscar is like the most disgusting carrot he could imagine. >> there's something about they like the people that don't like them. they gave marlon brando an oscar

because he refused to show up. >> i'm going accept for joaquim. >> we have the youngest actor. >> this does make her, as you pointed out -- >> i let soledad. >> i just mumble over it. >> i'm telling you, you see the number of nods that movie has gotten. i think she has a really tremendous opportunity here. >> of course, as emma stone pointed out, oldest and youngest. so making history on that front. looking at best actor, best actress category, any big surprise there's? >> miss wallace, i'm going to call her miss wawall is for now >> the snub, joaquim got that. it was bradley cooper's first best actor nomination. >> helen hunt was wonderful in "the sessions." she'll be tough to beat if they really look at the film. >> i think it will come down to

jessica chastain and jennifer laurence, who is odds on favorite. even before those nominees were announced. >> let's bring in nischelle turner. how did you do? how does your list match up to what was announced? >> the good thing about the oscars in the academy, we know they'll zig when everyone else zags. we saw that this morning. i was advised to see quevenzhene wallis. i was surprised about john hawkes not getting one. no quintin tarentino. no ben affleck. >> that was pretty shocking, "argo," along with "zero dark

30" have been perceived as a front-runner for a while. for the director to not get in disqualifyings them in terms of winning. you don't win without a best director nomination. the new landscape would appear "lincoln" and "silver linings playbook" this is the first in 31 years to get an acting nomination in all four acting categories, only 14 have done it. we're talking about "streetcar named desire." "sunset boulevard" real classics. that's a big deal. >> to get everybody caught up. "silver linings playbook" best supporting actor, best supporting actress. it was one of those movies that you heard a lot about. when you saw it, you thought it's just that good. >> another thing that it has in common with "lincoln" you leave them both. obviously "lincoln" we knew how

that was going end but you're inspired. "silver linings playbook" is a upbeat ending and "zero dark 30." and "argo," i am not sure what was going to happen there. >> people applaud and all of that. >> soledad, "lincoln" leads the nominations with 12 although like scott mentioned, "silver linings playbook" seems to beet darling of the academy. >> "lincoln" was a shoo-in. were completely right. some thought "argo" was a shoo in. but what we know, eight of ten potential pictures have been nominated. looking in my list, i put them in the order i thought they would fall in. top eight were the ones nominated. we also have senior editor from "vanity fair," krista smith with

us this morning. best director, i think this will be looked at as a snub, not only ben affleck for "argo" but also katheryn bigelow did not get best director. i'm shocked katheryn did not get it. it's amazing to see a little sundance movie that i saw in january a year ago go all of the way with "beasts of the southern wild." i'm thrilled for the young actress, that's a great story with the young and old there. that's what we love the academy for. that's shocking and the other big, big surprise is "silver linings playbook." i love this movie so i'm happy to see it do so well. it's fantastic that it got all nominations across the board. so i think that is a game changer in terms of kind of reassessing who will win and who are the favorites. >> you were concerned about how

"django unchained" will do. >> everybody said they'll either get a lot or get nothing. actually that didn't happen. >> best supporting actor. >> go ahead krista. >> i think christopher walls was amazing. he was fantastic in that. i think it was a really tough category with leo and sam jackson, as you guys discussed earlier, best actor, best supporting actor contest was really, really tight this year. it was a flooded arena. so it's just a nail-biter. it's amayizing. it changed the game. and i'm so excited for seth mcfarlane. >> he was so good in the nominees. >> it makes me want to watch the

oscars now. >> soledad he was able to make a his letter joke at 5:30 in the mopping. what will he do going forward. >> i think he'll be great. we'll talk to him in a few minutes about how he'll prepare. i got a sense that's a little bit of a preparation. >> oh, yes, oh, yes. that's definitely preparation. they really want to tee it up. they really want to bring in a younger audience this year. that's what they do want to do. >> sometimes that does not work. >> yes. >> i cannot wait to see the episode when family guy watches the oscars, because he's going to do that, and he loves big bands. his christmas party that i've been to, is one from the most fun things. i think when billy crystal had the singing and dancing, it was so much fun when he first started doing it. i think seth macfarlane, i hope

he has a 30-piece band. >> he loves this stuff. >> the best song category, i think is adele for "skyfall." not to get involved. i was disappointed by bud jon bon jovi. didn't get the nomination. it would have been the first in 20 years. >> "les miz." >> adele, "skyfall." right it down. >> we have to take a short break and come back, we'll be talking to seth macfarlane about his oscar nod. that's straight ahead. we're back in just a moment. when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts,

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"bests of the southern wild." "silver linings playbook." "zero dark thirty." >> "lincoln," steven spielberg and katherine kennedy. producers. "less miserables." "life of